An electronic component mounting device holds an electronic component with a part taking-out head or a mounting head at its component supply portion, and mounts the component in a prescribed location at a substrate with the mounting head. These heads are provided with replaceable tools to hold electronic components, so that the tools can be exchanged with tools having suction nozzles suitable for electronic components to be dealt with depending on the shape and size of the components. In order to efficiently exchange tools, there has been a known device that includes a tool exchange device having various tools within a movable range for the heads, so that tools can arbitrarily be exchanged with necessary tools held at the holding portion as disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-191288.
An example of the conventional tool exchange device of this type will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. As shown in FIG. 8, a tool 41 has a grip portion 43 to be gripped by a head H (see FIG. 9) on the top of the main body portion 42, and an operation portion 44 (see FIG. 9) such as a suction nozzle underneath. Square engagement wings 45 are provided to project on both end sides of a diameter of the main body portion 42 for detaching/attaching the tool 41 from/to the head H.
As shown in FIG. 9, the tool exchange device 50 is provided with a holding portion 51 that holds the main body portion 42 of the tool 41 mounted thereon. The operation portion 44 is stored in the holding portion 51 and a fitting recess 52 to position the tool 41 is formed. Engagement members 53 that engage with the engagement wings 45, projecting on both sides of the holding portion 51, from above are provided movably between the engaging position and the withdrawal position.
When the tool 41 mounted on the head H is exchanged, the head H is positioned immediately above the vacant space of the holding portion 51, the engagement portions 53 in the location are moved to the withdrawal position, and the head H is lowered. In this way, the operation portion 44 of the tool 41 is fitted and stored in the fitting recess 52, so that the main body portion 42 is placed on the holding portion 51. After the engagement portions 53 are moved to the engagement position, the head H is elevated to cause the tool 41 to be detached from the head H, and then the head H is positioned immediately above the next tool 41 to be mounted and lowered, so that the head H grips the grip portion 43. After the engagement members 53 are moved to the withdrawal position, the head H is elevated and thus the tool exchange process ends.
In the electronic component mounting device including the tool exchange device 50 as described above, the engagement wings 45 are largely projected on the sides of the main body portion 42 of the tool 41, and therefore as shown in FIG. 10, when the head H having the tool 41 mounted thereon holds the electronic component P and is then turned around the axial center C1 and pivoted around an arbitrary axial center C2, any member present within the range of the turning radius R of the edges of the engagement wings 45 projecting from the main body portion 42 of the tool 41 could interfere with the edges. Therefore, a large space must be secured around the head H for providing other members and devices, which does not allow compact arrangement and increases the size of the tool exchange device 50 as a whole.
The tool 41 is positioned in the holding portion 51 as the operation portion 44 is fitted into the fitting recess 52, and the fitting gap must be relatively large in order to achieve smooth fitting. Therefore, the positioning accuracy for the tool 41 cannot be improved, and the tools 41 must be exchanged while their positions are recognized. Consequently, the tact time to exchange tools cannot be reduced, which prevents the overall mounting speed from being increased.
The invention is directed to a solution to the above-described disadvantages associated with the conventional techniques, and it is an object of the invention to provide a tool exchange device and a tool that allow the arrangement around the head to be compact when the head having the tool is turned in an arbitrary direction and that allow tools to be positioned with high precision and be exchanged with short tact time.